It's Bethesda Maryland back in the day: Black chucks and saddle shoes, Hot Shoppes, McDonald's Raw Bar, Ayrlawn Rec Center. Told through the elusive lens of time, A Boy From Bethesda follows the life of Johnny O'Brien. A natural leader and gifted athlete, ten-year old Johnny's life is forever altered by a sudden tragedy and an ensuing discovery that haunts him for the remainder of his life. Interweaving camaraderie and romance and a yearning for the past, A Boy From Bethesda will appeal to a wide audience of men and women and young and old.
Jeanne Trantels life was perfector so it seemed. She had it all: a loving husband who worked on Wall Street, two beautiful, healthy sons, and a dream home in the affluent Long Island community where she grew up, surrounded by friends and family. But then, with one phone call, the life she knew and loved came crashing down around her. Your husband, the caller said, is in custody for a series of bank robberies that have occurred all over Nassau County. Jeanne would soon discover that her husband, Stephen, was living a lie. He was no longer the Wall Street trader that Jeanne, his family, and his friends all thought him to be. Instead of heading to Wall Street each morning as he claimed, Stephen was robbing banks. In Disguised Blessings, Jeanne chronicles the human toll of this ripped-from-the-headlines true story. Consumed by anger and humiliation and faced with mounting debt and piles of unpaid bills, Jeanne entered what she describes as the darkest time in her life. But Jeannes story is not a tragedy; it is a story of hope and redemption, of faith, love, and the power of forgiveness. With heart-wrenching candor, Jeanne describes how, with the generosity of friends and family and the unconditional love of her two boys, she was able to put the broken pieces of her life back together, in the end discovering that from tragedy can come Disguised Blessings.
This collection of nine original essays provides a rich new understanding of Connecticut’s vital role in the Civil War. The book’s nine chapters address an array of individual topics that together weave an intricate fabric depicting the state’s involvement in this tumultuous period of American history. In-depth examinations of subjects as diverse as the abolitionist movement in Windham County, the shipbuilding industry in Mystic, and post-traumatic stress disorder in Connecticut veterans serve as an excellent companion to Matthew Warshauer’s earlier book on the subject, Connecticut in the American Civil War: Slavery, Sacrifice, and Survival. Contributors include David C. W. Batch, Luke G. Boyd, James E. Brown, Michael Conlin, Emily E. Gifford, Todd Jones, Diana Moraco, Carol Patterson-Martineau, and Michael Sturges. Ebook Edition Note: 6 illustrations have been redacted.
